Far Away for Far Too Long
by mangawolfgirl96
Summary: 15 years ago, a 20 year-old Kyouko disappeared in France. Now, Kuon is in Paris for filming, and discovers both where Kyouko has been for all these years and why she left in the first place. A re-write of Wine Jelly.
1. Prologue

AN

I'm alive! I have come back to you lovely folks and bring with you gifts! Well, by gifts I mean this rewrite of my first and most successful story _Wine Jelly_. While this story will have essentially the same plot, there will be changes to some events and characters as the storyline progresses.

Also, updates will be sporadic and infrequent, but chapter lengths are likely to be about 4k, which is roughly twice the length of the chapters in _Wine Jelly_. This also means that this story will be shorter than _Wine Jelly _as well.

I'd like to dedicate this fic to zenphobiaz, who inspired me to rewrite _Wine Jelly_ when she told me that she couldn't make it four chapters in before she skipped to the end.

Thanks for reading~

MWG

P.S. If any readers were hoping for me to update _Fourth of July Fun_, please see the note on my profile.

* * *

Tsuruga Ren stared at his manager, trying to remember the last time he'd had a check-up. There had to be something wrong with his hearing since it sounded like Yashiro had just said that Kyouko—his Kyouko, love of his life and virtual savior—hadn't been on the plane back from her location shoot in Paris. Which was impossible. His girlfriend was notorious about punctuality and the odds of her missing her flight were exactly zero, if not a negative probability. She wouldn't have missed the plane. Not LME's top actress and number one Love Me girl.

"I'm sorry, Yashiro, but could you repeat that? I misheard you." Ren could hear his voice, and marveled at how calm and collected it sounded.

Instead of repeating it, the bespectacled man held out an unmarked envelope with a small frown. Ren, not knowing what laid within the paper confines nor what else to do, took the letter and cautiously ripped open the top. A single, thrice-folded sheet of paper was inside. He carefully unfolded it and began to read.

_Dear Ren-san  
By the time you are reading this, I will have disappeared._

The actor stared, his brain giving all hope of function after the first line alone. _By the time you are reading this I will have disappeared_: _that_ was how she chose to start a goodbye letter? Not _I'm sorry_ or _I'll come back someday_ or even _I don't think our relationship will work._ He craved to know more, to understand _why_, and forced himself to continue reading, no matter how tight his chest was. Even if it felt like the world was tumbling down around him.

_Please do not worry about me. I have found another source of income  
and adequate housing. Please do not look for me, because you will not find me.  
I thank you for all you've done for me. I hope to meet you again one day, but even so and if not, I hope you find someone who you can love even more._

_Goodbye, Ren._

_Mogami Kyoko_

Kyouko was insane. Really. That was the only reasonable explanation. _Find someone who you can love even more_—in what universe was that even _possible_? There was no one who could compare to his fairy-obsessed, short, odd, naïve, workaholic, forgetful, trusting, princess-loving, beautiful, loving, smart, witty girlfriend.

He refused to even think the prefix _ex_ because, despite the fact that the letter was a goodbye, there was not a single word that said Kyoko no longer wanted to be in a relationship with him, that she'd stopped loving him. It was a tenuous conclusion, barely outside the realm of delusion, but Ren grasped onto it with both hands and refused to let go.

"Thank you, Yashiro," said the actor evenly, carefully refolding the letter and tucking it into his pocket. He ignored the way his hand trembled as it brushed against the small velvet box already there. "Since I have the next few days off, I'll be heading home. Would you like me to drop you off on the way?"

Yashiro's expression was etched with lines of worry and his eyes were narrowed suspiciously, but he declined. "I'll catch a cab or find a bus route back to my apartment, but I will be calling tomorrow," he warned. "And if you don't answer, I will be breaking down your door with the cavalry on my heels."

Ren stretched his mouth into a wide smile and chuckled. "Understood."

After a wave to Yashiro and the other cast and crew wrapping up on set, the long-legged actor slowly made his way to his car. He settled into the silver sports car, staring at his dash blankly. The only sign of passing time was the racing thumping of his heartbeat, each one more painful than the last. His lungs slowly but steadily drew air in and out through force of will alone. His mind had stalled, clicking like an engine refusing to start. Memories—hundreds, if not thousands or millions—clamored for his attention. Some euphoric, some morose and maudlin, but all centering around Kyouko, as if meant to fill the sudden gaping and gushing cavern in his heart. They were dim though, chaotic and fleeting as they warred with each other for his attention and it was too much. Too much too soon, and it would always be too soon, but Ren didn't think of that as he finally turned the key in the ignition.

No, he was thinking of the liquor store just six blocks away from his apartment.

Somewhere in Paris, Mogami Kyouko looked up into the clear blue May sky, wistful and longing to be home but also glad to be gone, away from the lively chaos of Tokyo and acting. It was hard, leaving behind everything familiar, all she had ever loved, but that was all the past, and Kyouko's mind was turned towards the future. In Tokyo, things would've been tabloids, scandals, and heartbreak. But Paris—Paris was hope. A city her image and her popularity had barely touched, and where she could live in anonymity. Maybe not the most welcoming city, or the safest, but a place where she could be, where she could live and harm no one.

Maybe one day, in the far off future when everything was said and done and set in stone, Kyouko would return to Japan, maybe even Tokyo, and maybe it would be a day or a month or a year or forever. But so far in the future, at least eighteen years off, was only a vague idea, and not one Kyouko had much hope for. It would be unbearable agony to go back and walk old streets again with the ghosts of her past walking beside her, taunting her with people she could no longer have in her life.

But Kyouko had more to think about than herself now, and she wouldn't waste time looking back on the past and wishing for things that could never have happened.


	2. Chapter 1

Edit: Thank you, reviewergirl, for pointing out that name inconsistency.

* * *

Fifteen years later…

Tucked into the cityscape of Paris was a small but famous restaurant named Le Goût du Vin, also known as The Taste of Wine. While it was no longer family run—the last descendent of the original owner Jacques Mignon died some six years ago—the cooking still tasted of home and customers were just as likely to see the owner in the kitchen and as they were waiting on customers. Her employees often had to threaten the woman to take a day off, if rumors were to be believed.

But the food wasn't the only thing the quaint restaurant was known for. Le Goût du Vin was notorious for throwing out reporters and photographers when they weren't there just for a meal, and while that policy made the restaurant popular among celebrities, it wasn't why most females between the age twelve and twenty-five frequented the local five star restaurant. No, it was the handsome junior high student Yuki Mignon, the son of the owner, with his carefully styled brown hair and amber eyes who was often seen helping out at Le Goût du Vin when he wasn't swimming at the local pool, attending school, or at a school competition. The fourteen-almost-fifteen year old even had his own fan site, complete with memorabilia and discussion forums. The teen didn't mind too much, as long as they were willing to police themselves and his things stopped "disappearing." He'd even pose every now and then for a picture and sign autographs, but today wasn't one of those days.

Today, his mother was behaving oddly and no one knew why, not even Jeannette, her sous chef and best friend. Since seven o'clock, just after the restaurant had opened, Kyouko had barricaded herself in the second story of the French restaurant where she, her son, and her sous chef lived. Despite coaxing from her staff, friends, and offspring, the raven-haired woman refused to come out of room.

None of her chefs and wait staff minded that their boss had taken a voluntary day off—they had been trying to get her to take a few days off for over three months—but they were worried. The amber-eyed cook had never done something like this before that they knew off, but most of them had only known Kyouko since she took over Le Goût du Vin and brought in a new staff, but Jeanette had known the thirty-four year old woman for almost fifteen years now and this was the most bewildering of all the things the eccentric woman had down.

After the lunch rush had ended, the employees of Le Goût du Vin had voted for Jeanette to make sure that the head chef ate lunch.

Jeanette trooped up the stairs on the far side of the dining area from the kitchen, paying no mind to Yuki as he followed her. She steeled herself when she reached the landing, and knocked firmly. After a few moments with no reply, she knocked again, and twisted the handle. The door to the apartment swung open, but the foyer was empty. She headed immediately to the master bedroom. She knocked again, and, after no reply yet again, called through the wood, "Kyouko, _s'il vous plaît_, open the door." When no answer came, Jeanette implored, "At least tell us what's wrong."

The other woman replied, "Nothing's wrong. I just want to be in my room, alone, for a while."

"Do you want something to eat? Yuki said you haven't had anything except a glass of orange juice and a banana. That's a good breakfast, but it's past lunch time already. It's not health to skip meals."

Kyouko almost laughed, thinking of all the times she'd been the one saying that or something similar. It served as a bitter reminder of why she had holed herself up in here as well. "Okay. I'll make a sandwich and have some left over salad to go with it." And she'd get it herself, the actress resolved. It wasn't like anyone could actually see her in the apartment above Le Goût du Vin, especially with the curtains drawn in her private kitchen.

Yuki and Jeanette as the master bedroom's door opened and the petite chef exited with a resigned smile. "Yes, yes, you've talked me out. But after I finish eating, I'm going to sit on my couch and read," Kyouko informed them stubbornly

"You haven't been drinking have you, _Maman_?" Yuki asked, following behind her like a tall, looming shadow. "No drugs either, _oui_?"

"Do I look like an idiot to you, Yuki Mignon?"

"_Non madame__,_" he replied, dutifully chastised by his mother's tone alone.

"Smart boy," Kyouko said, ruffling her son's hair. At least he'd gotten her brains. Her amber eyed little boy had gotten straight A's for nine years, but she would still love him even if he got straight C's. He was her baby and nothing would change that, not even if he decided to become a drunken bum. The raven haired woman would try to get him sober and get him to do something around the restaurant but she'd love him all the same.

"So how was school?" she asked, as she turned towards the refrigerator.

Yuki shrugged, picking an apple out of the fruit bowl on the counter beside the refrigerator. "_Bien_. Some kids at school who are in a drama group want me to be the lead in some production."

"Again?"

Kyouko's son didn't like acting as much as she had, but she didn't particularly mind. It was his life and he'd live it how he wanted to. His stubbornness was legendary. It amused her though, that everyone had tried to use his popularity as publicity for their plays, poetry readings, and sport matches.

"Yeah, guess which one."

It probably wasn't _Cinderella_, since they had tried and failed to draft him into playing the prince every other time they'd asked. The same was true for most fairytales and classics, such as _Romeo and Juliet_ and _Auccasin et Nicolette_. While the retired actress could think of several plays, she still wasn't sure which one her son's classmates wanted him to participate in. So she admitted to having no clue as she placed the top on her sandwich and poked around in the fridge for the salad left over from yesterday's dinner. Finding the small plastic container, the woman simply put it on her plate sans lid, and grabbed a fork from her silverware drawer.

"It's not actually a play," Yuki relented, lounging against the refrigerator. "They're basically acting out passages from that best seller by Odaka Akinari. I think you have a copy. _Monsieur_ Mignon gave it to you for your twenty-fifth birthday, _oui_? Its original titled is _Shints__ū__ no Yume_, but everyone calls it by the English title _Heartache Dreams_."

Yuki had said it so conversationally—so blandly, Kyouko didn't realize what he was talking about at first, but she remembered soon enough. She'd read the first chapter of the heartbreaking novel and known immediately Odaka Akinari was a pen name, and as she continued reading she realized that Tsuruga Ren, too, was a stage name before said international superstar revealed it publically that he was actually Hizuri Kuon, two weeks after the French publication entered stores and a week after Kyouko had finished reading it. And that had been the first time since the time she'd left Tokyo that she had thought about going back. Not to resume the life she'd left behind—she wasn't sure she even wanted it anymore—but to see old friends and beat old flames.

However, she had decided against it, after a quick search on the Internet to see if she had faded into obscurity yet. It had surprised Kyouko immensely that she was still so illustrious and had yet to fade in popularity—not even around the edges. Every year it seemed, her fans had organized a search on May 2nd and flew to Paris to look for their missing idol. It made Kyouko feel guilty, but there wasn't anything she could do without putting those she cared about in danger, something she absolutely refused to do.

Shaking loose miseries of the past and present, the chef tried to focus on what her boy had said. First of all, Yuki never said who or what he would play if he even participated—though Kyouko would've laid her bets on the protagonist Ochiai Kyo. While her little angel had never acted a day in his life, they always tried to get him to play lead roles. It was his face mostly, she wasn't ashamed to admit as it was one of his father's more redeeming qualities as of late, but he also had that sort of aura about him too. Her little heartbreaker was a natural born leader, utterly captivating in his charisma, no doubt about it.

After a moment of thought, Kyouko managed to say causally, "That should be interesting. Are you going to do it this time or are you going to refuse like all the others?"

The teenager shrugged again, contemplating his partially eaten apple. "Maybe."

"Either way, be good and stay out of trouble. I don't want another call from your principal about a fight. Understand, young man?" asked Kyouko sternly, giving him her best authoritative stare.

According to Yuki, the fight hadn't been his fault. The other junior high senior had tried to blindside him and punching him in the solar plexus had been merely reflex. Kyouko didn't believe the second part for one second, and blamed herself for teaching him martial arts. He'd seen her sparring with some guys at the local gym years ago and insisted she teach him how to do things like a roundhouse kick and judo throws. The black haired boy had been seven and the cutest thing on God's green planet. Who could say no to puppy-dog eyes from someone like that?

"Yes, Mom," Yuki muttered, resigned to the fact that she was going to bring it up every time he so much as thought of stepping foot outside the restaurant. They both knew that Yuki was smart enough not to even _think_ of committing an act of violence in Le Goût du Vin.

Kyouko slung her arm over his broad shoulders and pulled him down to her height to place a kiss on his forehead. She was five-three and on the petite side where he was already five-eight and still growing. That boy had gotten so much from his father that it was painful sometimes to look at her boy and see the man she loved instead. Sometimes though, it made her swell with pride that she'd done as good a job as her pseudo-parents had with their son. (If not, perhaps, just a smidgen better.)

She missed Julie and Kuu, even if they both visited off and on, but never together, and not for long periods. Day trips only, and the actress made sure they never met Yuki, and Yuki never met them. While he didn't ask about his grandparents—especially since Kyouko had let him believe Mignon-san had been his grandfather when he was truly only a benefactor and confidant—Kyouko knew he wondered about them and his father and the excuse of "he died before you were born" wouldn't hold up much longer. She would have to tell the truth eventually, no matter what the backlash would be. No matter how difficult and painful it would be to cast a glance backwards and admit her mistakes.

Using the opportunity of Yuki defenseless and bent, Kyouko grabbed him in a headlock and ruffled his hair ruthlessly, like she'd done since he'd been able to sass her when she tried to get him to clean up his room, or put his clothes away. It was moments like these they got her through the bad days, and helped her find the good ones.

"Mom!"

The actress just grinned at him as she retreated to the living room with her lunch and settled into the nook between the left arm of the old, flowery couch and its back. It was the best place in the small room to curl up with a book as the couch was right next to a small, hand-carved table that held two drawers, and a small reading lamp placed on the top. Most of Kyouko's books and movies were stashed in the drawers since it had seemed wasteful to buy a media rack when every fit in the table that Mignon-san had left to her when he died.

Jacques Mignon had been a savior to the homeless, jobless nineteen year old who had come to his restaurant for a meal and left with a job and a place to stay. He'd even come to the hospital after she went into labor with flowers and a smile of a man whose grandson had just been born. Mignon-san never had childrens and his wife Maria had passed two years before Kyouko had come to Paris, but he'd come to think of Kyouko and her son as his family. He'd passed away on a cold February day, a few days after he'd slipped into a coma caused by a stroke. Both Yuki and his mother had both been standing vigil that night, and had wept huddled together long into the night.

It still brought tears to her eyes just think about it, and if Yuki saw, he'd worry and he had worried enough today as it was with Kyouko shutting herself in her room and now in the apartment. A necessary precaution, and everyone in the restaurant was always saying she needed a few vacation days every once in a while. They wouldn't mind her taking three and a half weeks off when Yuki's summer break was just a few days away. It had been a while since they'd spent any real family time together. Sure, the chef made it to every swim meet her fish-out-of-water went to, every parent-teacher conference, and all that. But they hadn't had any time just the two of them since they'd grieved for Mignon-san six years ago. Kyouko had thrown herself into the restaurant, and the first few months had been rough as she hired an entirely new staff, several of which had to be replaced within a few weeks of their employment because they hadn't been able to match Kyouko's level of expectations or had treated Yuki unfairly.

If Kyouko worked up the nerve to leave the house during her vacation, she'd see about taking Yuki to the beach, or maybe taking him hiking somewhere. Maybe they would just spend a whole day at an amusement park. It had been years since either of them had been to one, and the teenager barely remembered the last time when Mignon-san had taken them to the amusement park of Yuki's third birthday. It'd been cold, seeing as he had been born in November, but it had been the best present he'd ever gotten. The present she'd gotten him this year though, well, Kyouko hoped he'd like it even more.

Elsewhere in Paris, Hizuri Kuon—formerly known as Tsuruga Ren and widely known as the author Odaka Akinari—let out a tortured sigh as his costar and father Hizuri Kuu began listing off restaurants they could visit for lunch. He tried to seem attentive, but his interest in food was rather lacking. He barely ate enough to maintain his current weight, and that was after he'd lost almost twenty pounds to depression fifteen years ago. They'd gotten him medicated soon after Yashiro had noticed the signs, but it only helped slightly, especially since his name had been in the press more often than not in the past decade, and none of it particularly good. All his childhood mistakes were out in the open, and while most of his fans and coworkers believed him to be more like Tsuruga Ren than he had during those far off childhood years, many still found him intimidating and frightening, even dangerous.

"…So, Kuon, which one do you want to go to?" his father asked, drawing said actor away from his dark musings.

Remembering only one name, the younger actor picked Le Goût du Vin and told his father to punch it into the GPS. When Kuu remained silent and made no move for the GPS, Kuon turned and looked at him. "Something wrong, Tou-san?"

"No, no, of course not," Kuu reassured immediately, shaking his head to clear it. The veteran actor typed the name in, and then lapsed into silence while his son took the opportunity to see the location of where they would be eating. Le Goût du Vin had an admittedly nice ring to it, sounding old, pricy, and private. The kind of restaurant he usually visited, and, according to the GPS, it had been family run since the late eighteen hundreds. It had been a long time since he'd been to a family owned restaurant, and never one in Paris.

By following the handy GPS—Kuon had ignored his father who had insisted they wouldn't need it at the rental car dealer. He'd shut up finally after they had almost gotten lost twice in all the twist and turns and back alleys—it took only ten minutes to reach the restaurant from the main road. The parking lot was full, even two hours after the lunch rush, so they parked on the street and walked a block or two to the restaurant, hat and sun glasses their only disguise. They had to nearly sprint through the front doors when Kuon lost his hat. It was strange, though, that once they entered Le Goût du Vin, the rabid fans didn't follow, just gazed wistfully at their backs as they were seated. It seemed their privacy policy wasn't a secret, and whatever the consequence was, it was enough to deter even the most determined of fans. The head chef must've been more legendary than Kuon had thought.

While he mused, Kuu had gotten them a booth tucked in a moderately lit corner, and ordered some wine to go with their meal. That actually surprised Kuon, especially since the last time he'd had a drink—seven weeks ago which was a new record—he'd been in the bottle, and hadn't been sober for a while before that. Maybe his father's father memory was slipping like people said it was, and he had forgotten Kuon wasn't supposed to have any more alcohol, just in case it worsened his depression or interfered with his medication. His doctor had tried, succeeded, and then failed, and had eventually given up trying to get Kuon completely sober. His mother Julie had been the cause this time around with a very public threat to disown him if he didn't clean himself up. The blonde man had tried and so far he'd gotten his career smoothed out a bit and his family ties stronger than they had in the past fifteen years, but his personal life was still in shambles, which the press absolutely loved to tell the whole world about. He'd only been jailed twice since she-who-he-refused-to-name had left—both for assaulting members of the press, but those cases were always thrown out—but the press mongers always loved to embellish the incidents and reprint the articles.

The Hizuri wasn't proud of what his life had become, but he wasn't going to dwell on it either so he turned his attention to the brown eyed man who watched him over a leather-bound menu.

"What?" Kuon snapped irately.

"Nothing," the older man said quickly, peering down at his menu. "Nothing."

Kuon didn't believe that for a New York minute, but let it go. For the first time in years, it was just the two of them. No secrets, no masks, no cameras. Just them. In their business, that was nothing short of a miracle and he'd be damned if he was going to ruin it. He needed some good back in his life, since the best thing that had happened to him had up and walked away. So he opened his menu and looked over the famed Le Goût du Vin's selection. At least until his father decided to kill himself by choking on his wine. Kuon set his menu to the side and leaned over the table to thump Kuu on the back.

After the older man had started breathing regularly again, Kuon shook his head, commenting, "I'd thought by this time you would've learned not to breathe _and_ drink at the same time."

"Look at the top left side of a page," Kuu retorted.

Rolling his eyes, Kuon did and then stared incredulously at the quantities listed above the prices. It he wasn't mistaken, his name was being used for the smallest quantity provided and his father's for the largest. What in the world…?

"If I didn't know any better," he said finally, after a stretch of silence, "I might've believed this is some prank and we're being filmed right now."

"Amen," Kuu muttered into his wine.

"Maybe we're in the Twilight Zone…"

Kuu just looked at his son.

"I was joking," Kuon explained dryly.

Kuu looked unconvinced as he continued perusing his menu. "Sure, son. Sure."

"You're never going to let me live this down are you?" asked the younger actor resignedly.

"No way in hell."

Kuon had thought as much and was about to tell the other man as much when a waitress appeared at his elbow, smiling brightly. "_Bienvenue à nouveau_, _Monsieur _Hizuri, and who is your cute friend?" She graced the younger blonde with a flirty smile.

"Jeannette," his father said, sounding amused, "I'd like you to meet my son Kuon. Kuon, this is the sous chef of Le Goût du Vin and the best friend of the owner, Jeannette Lereau."

"A pleasure." Kuon held out his hand and the woman shook it briskly with a slightly strained smile. It wasn't the usual reaction he garnered from women, but he'd met more than a few who had a similar response—they'd just known who he was on sight and didn't bother to shake his hand.

"So you're the famous Hizuri son," the blue eyed woman managed to say after an awkward moment of silence. "I've heard a lot about you. Voted seven years straight as the Most Desirable Man in Japan, right?"

"_Oui_, _mademoiselle_."

The shorter blonde smiled, and looked at Kuu. "So you've taught him French, but does he know what to do with it?"

"Truthfully, Jeannette? I'd say _non_."

They both looked at him pityingly, which only added to his bewilderment. Just what the hell did you use French for besides speaking? He asked as much and got head shakes from them both, which only served to alarm Kuon,

His father conspiring with people who were, to Kuon at least, virtual stranger never ended well for anyone involved, especially his son. Kuon just hoped it wasn't connected to some scheme that was supposed to cheer him up.

Those tended to end in even worse disaster.


	3. Chapter 2

Two days into Kyouko's voluntary shut-in, she and Jeannette, her sous chef who doubled as a housemate, lounged on the couch in the apartment above Le Goût du Vin, steadily working their way through Kyouko's collection of Hizuri Kuon films and television series.

"I have to admit, _mon amie_," Jeanette said, grabbing a handful from their shared bowl of popcorn, "he's terribly handsome."

The retired actress stared at her friend for a long moment, amber eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Why the sudden admission?" Kyouko asked, shifting the popcorn to her arm of the couch and out of Jeanette's reach. "I've been saying for years he's a handsome, sweet man, and you've been disputing it for just as long, claiming he was a bastard and broke my heart when it was me who was completely horrible, running away and breaking both our hearts. Excluding from my twenty-fifth birthday on and me calling him names for not trusting me enough to tell me, letting me believe that fairies were real, yadda yadda."

Jeanette didn't look at Kyouko as she replied, "No reason."

"Jeanette, I've know you for fifteen years, spill it," the brunette demanded, "or I will burn your secret stash of romance novels."

It was the blonde's guilty pleasure to devour one of those trashy, formulaic novels before going to bed—Jeannette claimed they facilitated good dreams, and the former actress had a feeling she knew _exactly_ what kind of "good dreams" they facilitated. Kyouko also knew exactly where the sous chef had hidden her hoard so Yuki wouldn't find them and inadvertently scar himself for life: under the kitchen sink in opaque plastic bags. Kyouko had found it when cleaning years ago, but had kept her mouth shut so far out of loyalty. However, Jeannette was up to something, or knew something pivotal, which made Kyouko feel somewhat justified using whatever leverage she had.

"Evil witch!" Jeannette accused, hands held protectively over her heart. "You wouldn't."

The amber eyed woman quirked a contrary brow, standing from the couch and making her way towards the kitchen. She never made idle threats, and Jeanette should've known that by now.

"I'll tell you, okay? Just—just leave the books alone!" she called frantically, half climbing over the back of the sofa to stop her roommate.

Kyouko smirked and plunked back onto the comfy sofa. "Spill, my fair lady."

"Both Hizuri senior and Hizuri junior were at the restaurant eating lunch yesterday." Jeannette hurriedly continued as Kyouko's expression shuttered, "Kuon didn't know you were just above his head the whole time. He and his father just ate lunch, talked a little, and left. Nothing else. I swear, Kyouko, he doesn't know." She seemed earnest with her blue eyes wide as saucers and hands wringing worriedly.

Kyouko didn't reply, just stared blankly at the television screen as reality stuttered to halt and threw her a sucker punch. Fifteen years of hiding and the one man who could make her go back (_come back_) to Japan had nearly found her, had been within a square mile. But by some stroke of luck or fate, he hadn't known and probably still didn't know. Was it just coincidence that he and Kuu had chosen Le Goût du Vin, or were the gods (or Kuu, because that man had his picture in the dictionary next to the word interfering) setting something into motion? Had Yuki seen either of his unknowing relatives or had one of the Hizuri men spotted her oblivious son? Kyouko had never told her pseudo-father whey she'd left Japan so abruptly, and he'd never pressed, though he had made his curiosity known. If Kuu had seen Yuki in the restaurant, then he would've realized nearly instantly the reason Kyouko had left behind Japan (_Ren_, _Kuon_) without so much as a backwards glance or regrets that she couldn't suppress entirely.

But even if Yuki hadn't been seen, had Kuu accidentally tipped Kuon off and meeting at the restaurant had been meant to prove that Kuu had known exactly where she was all along? Was she simply reading too much into it? It was possible that all these years of hiding had bred a strong sense of paranoia, especially when so many people she cared about were involved. If Yuki was discovered, if the tabloids discovered that she had a child, out of wedlock and with another prominent actor, and then fled the country, that would be disaster; a tragedy that would destroy everything Kyouko had worked towards. She didn't know how to go on if that happened, if her deepest fear came to life.

And even if, magically, everything did go right, did she even want to go back when she had such a content, quiet life here? She had been prepared to start dating again, hadn't she? Even tried to go out twice already after Yuki had no objections, though both had ended rather horribly. Her taste in men was, unfortunately, abysmal. Except for Ren. Ren had been the one good choice she'd ever made. Kuon, however—that remained to be seen.

Truthfully, though, Kyouko didn't know if she wanted to go back to Japan, back into acting, and though she wouldn't admit it: deep down, that uncertainty scared her. She was used to having a plan and four backup plans for everything, knowing what she wanted and exactly how to get it. But this—she hadn't planned for this. The only plan she had to return to Japan, which was a big if, was to go back and visit after her popularity had all but died, never to move back permanently. As of yet, Yuki was still a Japanese citizen as was Kyouko, but they could easily become French citizens if they so chose. They both had been living in France for more than five years, and Yuki had been born in Paris even. Within the next four years, however, Kyouko would have to begin discussing with Yuki what he wanted to do: whether he wanted to become a French citizen or stay a Japanese citizen. Her decision depended entirely on Yuki, as they had for over a decade now, and she had always assumed that Yuki would prefer to stay in France over moving to a country he had never seen outside of photographs. But if he knew—if he knew who his father was and who she had been, Yuki might want to go back. To see the culture and the places and the people who had shaped Kyouko.

_Heavy burdens seem to be my poison now that love is off the table_, the actress thought wistfully, giving her friend a small smile so Jeannette would understand that Kyouko wasn't upset or angry, just worried and thinking too much for her own good. She'd been doing that increasingly frequently now that Yuki was old enough to get in serious trouble, and with all the fights. Six in the last three years and he didn't think anything of it, aside from a bit of shame at getting caught and annoyance that he'd been involved at all, but Kyouko knew better. Jealousy was an ugly emotion that had hurt her far too many times for far too many years for far too little reasons. Her boy would have to be careful in the years to come, as the treatment shifted from physical harassment into attempts of humiliation and sabotage, especially with the genetics he had received. Kyouko wouldn't be surprised if her little black haired boy was wired to cause trouble somehow, despite the number of times she'd tried to get it through his thick skull to keep out of trouble. All the Hizuris she'd met, however, seemed to think trouble was their closest friend, even Julie who was originally a Swan.

But first things first. "Jeannette, did they see Yuki?"

"The Hizuris?" she asked, grabbing the bowl of popcorn and settling back on the couch to continue watching the movie. She paused thoughtfully. "I don't think so. I think Yuki had gone to the public pool with a few of his friends about an hour before that."

"That's good."

Sky blue eyes glanced at Kyouko. "Hizuri senior doesn't know, does he?"

"No one but you, Moko-san, and Mignon-san, may he rest in peace, and that's the way I want to keep it."

Over the past fifteen years, Kyouko had been corresponding and exchanging emails with her first friend and fellow actress Kotonami Kanae, whom the younger actress referred to affectionately as Moko-san, and no one was the wiser, except Hiou, Kanae's husband. If Kuon had known, he would've tried to coerce Kyouko's location out of Moko-san, and that would've ended in an perhaps an even bigger media fiasco than the last time he became enraged by a nosy paparazzo. But so far, Moko-san had kept Kyouko's secrets to herself and was still her closest confidant.

"Yuki will have to know eventually, Kyouko," Jeannette warned softly. "Sooner or later someone's going to comment about how much he looks like his father and it's going to nag at him until he figures it out, with or without you."

Kyouko scowled at the empty popcorn balanced on her friend's knee. "You think I haven't been telling myself the same thing ever since he was born? That the last thought before I go to sleep every night isn't how am I going to tell him or will he hate me for not telling him sooner? But it's not safe, Jeannette," she insisted, gesturing so wildly with her hands that the popcorn bowl was knocked off its perch. "At this age, he's liable to go looking for his father without listening to why that's a horrible idea."

"I know that," the other chef said gently, placing a calming hand over Kyouko's faintly trembling one. "But when he matures, you know what you have to do."

Kyouko snorted softly, rubbing at her eyes with one hand as the other clutched at Jeanette's for some sort of lifeline to normality. "If he matures, _mon amie_. If."

Jeanette laughed, giving Kyouko's hand one last squeeze before going to refill the popcorn bowl. Everything was back to normal, or as close to normal as her life ever seemed to get, and while Kyouko hoped things would stay that way, she really doubted it would. She hadn't lived thirty-five years and learned nothing for it.

Yuki shuffled his feet, indecisive. He'd told his classmate Mirabelle Adler yes during a passing period, but he serious had doubts about his acting ability. Sure, he'd been pursued to play main roles before, but he always declined because he'd never really _wanted_ to act before, especially not in some millionth rendition of a story older than most governments. But this was a chance to act out one of his favorite novels, even if he'd deny it unto his last breath, which was an award-winning modern classic. Not to mention it was one of his mother's favorites too, if how often she read (and usually on the bad days) was any indication, and perhaps seeing it would cheer her up. She'd been depressed lately and that wasn't like her. The mother he knew was always bubbly and more prone to laughter than to tears, but lately she'd been seeming… almost fragile. Delicate, frail, and things he had never associated with the strong, independent woman who had raised him for fourteen-almost-fifteen years before a few days ago. It felt wrong to think of her as vulnerable.

Yuki growled and roughed his hair in frustration because _it didn't make sense_. Everything had been fine: he hadn't gotten into a fight in over three months, his grades were as good as always, the restaurant was doing great as usual, and his mother was finally approaching the dating market again. The last had been a little weird at first, but that woman needed someone to rely on besides him and Jeannette because neither of them would be around forever, or even most of the time. Not to mention that amber-eyed idiot worked herself to near death whenever someone wasn't keeping an eye out to make sure she didn't. Did she even realize how many people she worried when she refused to take vacation days? That _baka_ was always causing a stir, whether she realized it or not.

Yuki's musings were interrupted as Mirabelle—barely taller than his mother with short auburn hair and ecstatic grey eyes—called to him from down the hall, waving his copy of the script in the air. The brunette girl had nearly fainted with glee when he'd agreed to be in the play, and had insisted he stayed after school to get a script instead of waiting until tomorrow when the rest of the drama group would get theirs.

"Here you are, Mignon," she said, handing him the thick script. Yuki estimated it was between 80 and 90 pages, and he wasn't sure if he would be able to memorize even _half_ of that, and his character was in nearly all scenes. "We're performing chapters ten through nineteen, since we're only allowed three scenes per act." The girl smile turned relieved. "For agreeing to play Kyo, thanks. It will really help in raising funds for the troupe."

The amber eyed boy smiled back, though carefully kept it small so as not to unintentionally encourage her. "It's not a problem. Maybe I'll even see if I can't get _ma maman_ to let us eat free at Le Goût du Vin after the first performance." He winced as he glanced at his watch, waving to Mirabelle as he turned towards the front doors. "Sorry, I've got to get home. My mom will get worried if I'm not back by four."

"See you tomorrow then!" she called after him, waving enthusiastically. "And don't forget, the first practice is next Tuesday!"

Pausing in unlocking his bike, Yuki grinned and called back an affirmative as he strapped on his helmet. Stuffing his lock in his backpack, the teen set off for home.

Two weeks later, Kuon had just finished with his last scene for the day when his father decided to drag him to some rehearsal for excerpts from his book that one of Kuu's friends' adolescent drama group was going to put on in a few months. As usual, Kuon just sighed and asked for directions. One didn't argue and win with Hizuri Kuu when one was as apathetic as his son. More often than not lately, Kuon was having trouble motivating himself to simply get out of bed in the mornings, let alone go to work. Lory and Yashiro worried as did Kuon's parents, but there wasn't anything he could do to appease them at this point. He didn't want to date, to hang out with what few friends he had, or even leave his apartment most of the time. The fact he'd gone overseas for a location shoot was astounding and surprised him just as much as, if not more than, everyone else.

Maybe he really was stronger than his depression.

In Kuu's usual, boisterous manner, the older man shook Kuon out of his thoughts as they arrived at a small theater his friend Raoul Durepos owned in downtown Paris. The parking lot was nearly deserted but there were several bikes locked up near the double doors into the theater, as well as a few skateboards, which marked the visitors as part of the younger generation. The two men entered the theater quietly and nonchalantly, following the sound of voices to the stage and rehearsal. While the seating area was small, there were easily enough seats to fit two or three hundred people in the floor seats. There was a deserted balcony section above their heads that had an additional one or two hundred seats, and, according to Kuu, Durepos expected a full house for the first three nights.

Kuon could admit that his book was popular but he doubted that was the only attraction. Supposedly, the boy they had playing Kyo was famous for being what they'd called back in Japan a _bishounen_—a beautiful boy. As far as Kuon knew, Yuki Mignon wasn't actually a celebrity, but he had quite the fan base, according to the ever reliable Kuu who'd looked the fourteen year old up on the internet. Fan girls were scarily efficient when they were properly motivated.

The lights were all on over the stage, but the ones over the audience and along the aisle were off. The two Hizuris silently entered the last line of seats and sat in two plush seats towards the middle of the row. There a moment of elbowing as they arranged themselves in such close proximity, but they managed to sort it. Half way between the pair of actors and the stage was a dark haired man, watching the stage fixedly. On the large wooden platform were two actors, a girl and a boy, and Kuon recognized the scene immediately. It was the first time he'd ever been sick and what little he remembered of it. From their view point, he and Kuu couldn't see the young actor who played Kyo, but the actress who played "Rena" was a pretty brunette with honey-brown eyes, and seemed to be a few inches taller than Kyouko had been.

"You know, Kuon, before your mother and I read your book, we didn't know about this little incident," Kuu mentioned off-handedly.

The younger blonde shrugged. "I guess no one thought it was important enough to mention."

The brown eyed man glowered at his blue eyed son for a moment before turning his eyes back to the stage just in time for the male protagonist to reveal himself. The young man was 5'7" or 5'8" with messily trimmed black hair and discordantly familiar amber eyes. It took a few moments for Kuu to comprehend what, exactly, he was seeing, but once his brain processed it, the veteran actor turned to his companion.

"Anything you want to share, son?"

"I was about to ask you that," Kuon shot back hotly, then winced. "I mean, I know your faithful to Kaa-san beyond a doubt, but you weren't always married to her…."

The father glared at his son and the blue eyed man shrugged. "Well, he's not mine. If he was, the mother would've come looking for money to take care of him and to keep it out of the media." Kuon wasn't even thinking as he continued, "Unless, of course, he's—" The actor stopped himself short, staring at the boy on stage. He looked to be about fourteen or fifteen, and that, that timeline was startlingly easily to formulate in his head, but. But that couldn't be.

It just wasn't possible.

She would've told him, wouldn't she? And he was pretty sure he would've remembered engaging in the process needed to make a child. Even if she'd been pregnant during that time, why had she left? Everyone she'd ever known, except for Kuon's parents, were in Japan. Wouldn't it have been better to stay where all her friends were so they could support her? Sure, it would've been hell in a hand basket to keep that sort of a scandal out of the press, but life was full of sacrifice and the press would've found a new story within a week. Besides, that woman probably had a thousand other reasons to leave, Kuon thought bitterly. He wasn't exactly a catch—especially not after his past came out. He was a workaholic, an alcoholic recently, and could express his feelings about as well as a wild chimpanzee could fly an airplane. He wasn't anything to write home about unless she wanted a celebrity steppingstone.

Kuu didn't bother asking his son to finish his sentence. He knew what the younger man had been about to say: unless he's Kyouko's. That woman wouldn't have asked for a penny from anyone and if she had been given money forcefully, she'd do her best to pay it back with interest. But, damn, she was something. For the last fifteen years, he'd visited her off and on at her restaurant, at her _home_, but he hadn't seen even the slightest hint of a child. No diapers, no toys everywhere, and certainly no little boy who bore a striking resemblance to him and his son.

As soon as he and Kuon went their separate ways, Kuu would call Kyouko. Not only was he going to reprimand her for not telling him, he was going to demand not only to meet the boy, but for her to introduce the boy to his father too. Kuon had a right to at least meet the child who shared half his DNA, even if he hadn't helped raised the boy. Heck, he hadn't known the child, _Yuki_, existed until a few moments ago.

Both Hizuris were so deep in thought that when Durepos called the rehearsal to an end, they startled, knocking together knees and elbows. The actors on stage exchanged tired smiles and compliments while other members of the troupe wheeled the props off stage. The leader of the troupe greeted the two acting stars excited, and asked how they think the young actors did. Both actors responded truthfully for the most part, and Kuon asked about the leading man.

"Ah, yes, Yuki," Durepos said, glancing towards backstage. "Some of our members go to school with him and since none of our young men wanted the role and all the girls are gaga over him, our leading lady asked Mirabelle—our resident lighting director—to ask him. I was surprised he actually agreed to it. He's always rejected all offers before, most likely because he's always helping out at the family restaurant or at a swim meet." The green eyed man shrugged. "I think he mostly says no because while he's got some talent, it's not something he really likes. It might have something to do with his mom, though. I heard him mentioning something about her acting strangely and depressed to one of the other actors, and wanting to cheer her up."

Kuu had a fairly good idea why Kyouko, if Yuki was indeed her son, would be acting strangely. She was used to having Kuon hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away, and now he was within city limits. That would be a shock to anyone's system. It might've been a good thing they were leaving in a week, but he couldn't say he regretted coming and finding out he had such a handsome grandchild. Now if only Kuon and Kyouko could make up and give him another one. One that he could actually watch grow up and become the loving bane of its existence.

"Either way he's got talent," Kuon said absently as he mulled over the information he'd been given. "He could go far if he found a passion for acting."

Durepos just shrugged. "He's a good kid, but I don't think he wants to go into entertainment. I've heard a rumor he's going to take over the restaurant his mom runs, but, really, who knows? Yuki seems like a bright kid, and his mom seems to love him enough that he doesn't need to do anything he doesn't want."

The Hizuris exchanged glances. That certainly sounded like the Kyouko they knew, but could this boy really be her son? The odds were a million to one at least, even with the undeniable likeness to members of acting royalty. It could've just been the gods' idea of a cruel joke to make an almost exact replica of Kuon, just so he could see what his offspring might've looked like if Kyouko had stayed in Japan, and they had shared a life together.

For all the things he'd done, Kuon thought maybe he deserved it.


	4. Chapter 3

A/N

In a little less than two week, I will be heading off to college. With a full course load ahead, my writing time will be limited and muse and motivation low. Just a warning that updates might become even less frequent in the months to come.

Thanks for reading~

MWG

* * *

Outside _Théâtre de __Durepos_, Kyouko turned off her small green sedan and gave her two passengers stern looks. "Both of you are to stay in the car." She gave her younger passenger a warning glare. "You are not to scream your head off when you see Yuki, you are not to try and touch him unless he initiates it first such as a hand shake, and under no circumstances do you two reveal how exactly I know you. Understood?"

Two black heads—one amused and the other far too serious—nodded, and with a resigned sigh the amber eyed woman left her car to the mercy of her passengers as she went collect her son. Kyouko hadn't planned to bring them with her to pick up Yuki from his rehearsal, but she couldn't exactly leave a popular Japanese actress and her daughter back at Le Goût du Vin and risk them revealing her celebrity identity unwittingly. Her employees' high intellect was usually a useful trait, but not in this case. Kyouko wanted to live quiet for as long as she could. She didn't want to subject Yuki to a life in the spotlight either, since he really was a good kid with the beginnings of a heart of gold. He still needed to work on his temper, but he'd be a good man some day.

It took a few moments of navigation, but Kyouko managed to find a door leading into the audience. The seating section was completely dark except for small lights along the sides of the main aisle. The stage was clear of actors, and stagehands were moving props offstage, so the black haired chef searched the seats for the troupe leader Durepos. She had absolutely no idea how to get backstage after all, and the two passengers back in the car would be getting more anxious the longer Kyouko stayed in the theater.

She bit back another sigh. There were reasons why she had talked about going back to Japan for a visit, rather than having them come to Paris. As if there wasn't enough on Kyouko's plate already with her date later that night, making sure Jeanette and the rest of the staff didn't destroy the restaurant when her back was turned, making sure Yuki stayed out of trouble, and half a million other things it seemed like some days. Maybe her staff was right. Maybe she _did_ need a vacation. Maybe after Yuki finished with his play, they could go to California, go sightseeing, and maybe Kyouko could slowly introduce her son to the fact that she'd been lying for the past fifteen years about his relatives.

That sounded much worse than she had thought it would fifteen years ago.

Kyouko heaved a sigh, resigned yet again to be tired with worry and an idiot for it. She couldn't remember the last time she'd gone out and just gone wild. Sure, Jeanette had dragged her on some girl nights but the amber eyed woman had always been reserved and withdrawn during those times and it had had the desired affect: no man had dared to approach her, and very few had dared to approach her single friend, much to the Jeanette's disappointment.

A weary smile on her face, the black haired woman searched the seemingly endless rows of seats for the troupe leader and found him looking thoughtful by another set of doors on the far side of the theater. Mr. Durepos wasn't a very tall man, but he was easy enough to spot in a complete empty audience.

"_Monsieur _Durepos!" she called out, picking her way through a row towards the man.

He glanced her way and raised a hand in greeting as the small woman managed to worm her way into the other aisle. "_Mademoiselle_ Mignon, good afternoon. Here to pick up Yuki?"

"Yes, and would you please show me how to get backstage?" she asked, a bit embarrassed. "My sense of direction isn't the best and I get turned around easily."

The man chuckled and nodded, placing his hand between the beautiful woman's shoulders as he guided out of the seating area. After a few twisty turns through a few different hallways, they arrived at a door that proclaimed _Staff Only_. Kyouko hesitated for a moment, but since Durepos had brought her it must've been alright for her to enter. She pushed the door open and entered the backstage of an actual stage for the first time.

Before she left Tokyo, the LME president had discussed with her the option of performing before a live audience via stage acting, and had even lined up scripts if she'd accepted his offer. Kyouko never had the chance to accept since, three days later, she'd found out she was pregnant and had started planning her disappearance, coordinating with Moko so the two could still keep in touch afterwards, while erasing any trail the younger actress might've left as she made a new life. Kyouko still didn't have the heart to tell her friend that they hadn't done a good enough job, though, since it had taken Kuu and Julie just over a year to find her.

As Kyouko strolled towards where the actors were gathered, the heavy black curtains slid closed and the stagehands finished moving the props back into place backstage. Her tennis shoes squeaked softly on the polished wood as her eyes lifted to look at the lights hung high above the stage. It would've been different to act in a place like this where there was no such thing as a green screen or CGI or retakes. It would've been a challenge she would've loved to participate in and to work together with actors who performed on stage instead of in front of a camera. Perhaps after Yuki had gone off to college or moved out, she could see ifDurepos knew of any small community troupes that would be willing to take her on as a part-time actress.

Kyouko could use a hobby, now that her hobby had become her career.

Suddenly a hand passed in front of her face, causing Kyouko to blink in confusion for a moment before turning to look up at her son who smiled down at her.

"Welcome back, Mom," Yuki teased, slinging an arm over her shoulder as he tried to follow where her line of sight had been fixed. "I've been trying to get your attention for a while and you were off in your own little world again."

The mother winced and gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry, just a lot on my mind today. Now, let's get you home." She herded the tall boy towards the exit, but before they could leave the stage he dug in his heels and refused to move.

"What's the big hurry? I'd thought I'd introduce you to some of my new friends."

"Maybe next time." The raven haired chef glanced at the watch on her wrist and shook her head. "Come on now, Yuki, I don't want to embarrass you in front of your friend by carrying you out over my shoulder, and if you don't get that behind I gave you moving, that's exactly what I'm going to do."

Panic clouded his clear blue eyes and he got moving. Kyouko almost had to jog to keep up. The middle school boy found her green sedan easily enough, but he paused a few parking spaces away as he realized there were two unfamiliar faces in the car.

"Mom, who are they?"

"An old friend and her daughter. Moko's husband's working and since Hime was on summer vacation, they tagged along. I didn't realize they were coming until they came by Le Goût du Vin or I would've told you sooner," she said honestly. "Especially about Hime."

A slight hint of fear crept into his eyes as he asked carefully, "What do you 'especially about Hime'?"

"She's your, um, fan."

"By fan, do you mean like look but don't touch kind of fan or crazy screaming, I'd better run for my life kind of fan?"

Kyouko averted her gaze from her son's searching eyes and even if she didn't say anything, he had his answer.

"Damn it, Mom, why'd you bring her with you?"

"Watch your language, Yuki Mignon," she scolded sternly, ineffectually pushing at his shoulder in hopes of getting him to move. No such luck. "And I didn't have much of a choice. Moko wouldn't let me leave her back at the restaurant to be looked after by Jeanette."

"Then why didn't you just leave them both there?" he asked as if it was the most rational course of action and she should've known that, but the thing was, she knew that it wasn't the best option, let alone a rational one.

"I couldn't, Yuki."

"Why not?" he argued, brows drawn together in earnest confusion. "It's not like they'd wreck our apartment or the restaurant."

"I just couldn't, okay?"

He grabbed her shoulders and dug his nails almost painfully into her skin, forcing Kyouko to look at him. "No, _Maman_, it's not okay. I'm not five. I need a real reason."

She knew this was going to happen at some point, some day in time, but she didn't think it would be this soon. "Fine, but not here. I'll tell you when we get home."

"No," Yuki said fiercely, holding his ground and face mulishly set. "I'm not leaving until you tell me."

She snapped. Maybe it was the way he asked it, looking his father with eyes flashing and lips set firmly, or maybe all the stress and worries had finally taken their toll. Kyouko didn't know.

"Fine! You want a reason?" Her finger found its way within a centimeter of his sculpted nose and wriggled there. "I'm not who everyone thinks I am!" She hissed at him, arms flailing widely to encompass the general sense of the world. "I've been lying about almost everything for fifteen years and I've been planning on lying till the day I die!"

Neither of them was sure what caused Yuki to stubble back: the force of her delivery or the shock of her words, but he did and Kyouko used it to her advantage and towed him towards the car, pushing him into the back seat alongside a pretty twelve year old with big brown eyes and short black hair. No one said a word as Kyouko slammed her door shut and started the car. As they pulled out of the parking lot, however, Moko decided to try and break the tension.

"Kyouko, what happened?"

"Nothing that wouldn't have happened eventually," Kyouko muttered, glancing over her shoulder before changing lanes.

The actress glanced back to an obviously shell-shocked Yuki. "Did you tell him everything?"

"Not yet."

"Should I call Hiou to come and get Hime?" Moko asked, calm and patient and not berating Kyouko for being an idiot as always.

The chef relaxed a little, but shook her head. "No. Hime-chan can wait downstairs under my wait staff's supervision. I doubt she'd want to see something like that."

"You knew it wasn't going to pretty when you made this decision, Kyouko," Moko reminded her.

Kyouko sighed. "I know, but I had hoped. It was stupid, but I had hoped he'd listen long enough to understand it had to be done."

"It didn't have to."

The amber eyed woman shot her friend an unfriendly look. "Don't start, Kanae. Just don't. You can yell at me all you want after I get back after my date, but not now."

Silver eyes grew to the size of dinner plates as the actress gaped at her obviously mentally disturbed friend. "You're going on a date when you know _He_'s here, in the same city limits, with Mr. Hollywood?"

"Yes, I am, and the chances of running into _Him_ while I'm out are a million to one. Mr. Hollywood"—the retired entertainer smiled at her friend's nickname for Kuu—"is running interference too."

"Knowing you're on a date?" Moko asked sketptically.

Kyouko didn't look away from the road as she replied sheepishly, "No?"

Kanae looked at her friend and tried not to laugh; she really did. Kyouko scowled at her as they reached a red light. "It wasn't _that _funny, Moko."

The look the older actress gave her long time friend said she didn't agree, but didn't say it. "Anyway, should we get Mr. Hollywood in on the conversation?"

"No," the chef said firmly. "You know what he's like, Kanae, and I don't think Yuki's going to be prepared for him."

"True, but I don't think your boy will _ever_ be ready for that."

Yuki blinked blankly as a glass of water appeared in front of him on the kitchen table. He looked up to find the beautiful woman his mom had introduced as Kotonami Kanae, despite the fact the chef called her Moko. He'd been too preoccupied to ask. Or care really. When your sole parent suddenly tells you she'd been lying about almost everything for the entire time you existed, you tend to focus on that and ignore everything else.

But now that he was semi-rational again, Yuki realized that he had a virtual gold mind of information standing in front of him. "Kotonami-san, how exactly do you know my mom?"

He didn't know much about her, but if he remembered correctly, she was a famous celebrity in Japan and a fairly famous model in Europe. Which begged the question of how exactly had his middle class, sort of average, fairy-obsessed mother met and become friends with a beauty like this?

Definitely not through normal circumstances.

"We meet each other through work," Kanae answered honestly. She just happened to leave out the fact that it had been an acting audition and she'd been rude and malicious towards his mother, whom she'd also called a housewife. That was nearly eighteen years ago and all had been forgiven, but from what the actress understood of her best friend's son's personality, he wouldn't be very happy about even such a small slight so long ago.

"Work?" asked Yuki, bewildered. "You worked together at a restaurant?"

The black haired woman glanced towards the hallway Kyouko had disappeared down five minutes ago and had yet to return from. "Your mother will explain once she finishes her phone call."

He frowned in frustration at the non-answer but let it be. "Do you know my dad? Or at least what he looks like?"

"I know your dad, yes. Kyouko used to be referred to as his exclusive kouhai. She nearly worshiped the ground he walked on before we finally got it through her thick skull that she was just as good as he was at her job."

"That sounds like Mom," Yuki acknowledge with something resembling a teeny tiny smile.

"Uh-huh, but, dear lord, do you know how long it took for her to figure she was in love with that giant? Three years, three whole years while he covertly tried to court her. Can you believe? A drop-dead gorgeous guy invites you out to dinner and it's just dinner between colleagues? Yeah right."

"Kotonami-san, what's my dad like, really?"

Kanae sighed, knowing he wouldn't wait to ask his mom. "I never got to know him like your mom did, but he's not some criminal or anything. Well, he's made a few mistakes, but he's never been prosecuted. I entrusted him with your mother though and he did his best he could, I suppose, to make her feel cherished and protected."

"Then why'd she leave?"

Kanae didn't answer at first. "Kyouko still has troubling believing she deserves to be loved and she decided fifteen years ago that she wanted to protect the people she loved and would come to love. That was her belief."

He took a sip of his water, and stared into his glass as if it could give him the answers he wanted. "So she left 'cuz she was pregnant with me?"

"Simple answer? Yes. Complete answer? No. She could've stayed if she trusted we'd be able to protect her, but she probably would've left Japan either way after discovering her pregnancy. The difference, Yuki, is that she would've come back after you were born."

"Does he even know Mom was pregnant when she left?"

Kanae looked at her hands. He would've asked sooner or later. "No. I am the only person beside Mignon-san who knew."

"_Pépé _knew?" Yuki asked, gripping his water tighter. "He'd never said anything, didn't even blink an eye when he collaborated _Maman_'s story about my father being dead!"

"Kyouko may not have told him."

"Her own father?"

The actress closed her eyes in horror. Dear god, he didn't know. "Mignon-san never had any children."

"Are you saying Mom's adopted?"

"No, Yuki," she said gently. "It's just that Kyouko doesn't know who her real father is and has never had an official one. He's mostly likely deceased anyway if anything that woman said is true."

"That woman?" he repeated faintly.

"The bitch from hell, evil incarnate," Kyouko cut in as she took a seat, "also known as Himeji Saena, your grandmother. Oh and a word of warning, if someone ever approaches you claiming to be her or somehow connected to her, run like hell and don't look back, even if they put a gun to my head."

"Mom…"

"No, Yuki. You and I are expandable to her and if she so much as suspects we'll blacken her name, we will not survive long." The retired actress took a deep breath. "Promise me, Yuki."

His expression was mutinous, but agreed anyway. "I still don't see why."

Kanae's eyes softened and she placed a hand on the shoulder of her friend's son. "We all do crazy things for our kids. This last year Hime's been confessed to thirteen times and every one of them has withdrawn their confessions within a week."

"Hiou-kun?"

"She's got him wrapped around her little finger and has him thinking she's a perfect little angel."

"Ah," Kyouko said knowingly, "like Maria used to be."

"Yep, but instead of having a Ren-sama who she doesn't have a chance in hell with, she has her Yuki-sama."

Both middle-aged women turned to smile at Yuki who paled. "I'm not interested in dating. At least not yet. Maybe in a couple years. A few decades."

They both looked at him impassively for a long moment before Kyouko's poker face crumbled and she dissolved into laughter. Kanae followed shortly.

"My life just one big joke to you, isn't it?" the fourteen year old muttered, bowing his head in hopes it would hide his rapidly spreading blush. No such luck.

"We're sorry, Yuki." Moko's face clearly said she wasn't but Kyouko ignored her. "We both know that you and Hime are still young and will have plenty of time to find someone you truly love from the bottom of your hearts. We just hope you two wind up together."

"Geez, Ma, that's _sooo_ comforting."

Kanae smiled at the Hizuri Jr. clone and ruffled his hair. "It's thanks to a lot of people hoping and pushing your parents together that you're here, Yuki."

"Hey. It thanks to too much alcohol and a lot of passion that he's here. And Ogata-san."

The silver eyed actress snorted. "Wrong. It's President Takarada's fault. He's the one who suggested to Yashiro who suggested it to the director that you should have some wine."

"I should've known. That man is devious in his old age. Does he have any grey hair yet?"

"None," the older woman said with great distain. "Not even in that damn mustache. I've search his office—the normal one that doesn't change—and couldn't find anything to suggest he's been dyeing it."

"Lucky Maria."

"She's got a fiancé now you know."

Kyouko stared at her friend slack-jawed. "You never told me that."

"Of course not. You would've wanted to be there for the wedding and we can't have that."

"I know," the chef said with a sigh. "But that doesn't mean I don't like to know. She's like the little sister I never had."

Yuki was of course totally lost, knowing none of the people his mother and her friend were talking about. Thank God for the internet—he could just search the names and see what came up. The black haired boy doubted it would be much, but you never knew.

Kanae listened absently as her best friend rattled on about a time little Maria-chan had let loose a tub of spiders on an unsuspecting woman who'd been flirting non-too subtly with Hizuri Jr. They'd gotten off topic without Kyouko realizing it and the actress didn't want to make her friend face reality again just yet.


End file.
